Seattle is a leader on workers rights issues like our $15 minimum wage, paid sick & safe time ordinance, and wage theft laws. But what happens if employers are still breaking the rules?

Late last year, A.P., a worker for a South Seattle big burger chain, was looking over her paystub. She noticed something off — she wasn’t accruing any sick leave.

When she went to her boss after work, he refused to fix it saying that as a franchisee he was a small business and didn’t have to follow Seattle’s paid sick & safe time ordinance. He was wrong. A.P. organized with her co-workers and they all confronted him demanding he obey the laws and do right by them. In the face of their collective pressure he relented.

The only reason this worker knew she was supposed to be accruing paid sick & safe time was because she had been involved with Working Washington and had learned about her rights. She felt the need to stand up for all of her co-workers after finding out that the boss was trying to take advantage of them.

About Working Washington: Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work. More info…

Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.

Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle's landmark $15 minimum wage. We drove Amazon to sever ties with right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses. And we helped lead the winning campaign in SeaTac for a $15 living wage.